Scraper step plate



7 June 24, 1930. KE 4 1,766,786

SCRA PER STEP PLATE Filed Nov. 2. 1927 Patented June 24, 1930 GEORGE A.KEENAN, or 'LosfAneELEs,oanirozanra SCRAPER s'rnr PLATE Applicationfiled November 2; 1927. Serial Not 230,546

My invention is in scraper step plates suitable for installing on: therunning board of an automobile, this having a scraper blade for scrapingthe mud off the soles of shoes 5 and having grids also .forming scraperelements; i V -I An object of my invention is forming the grid with barsof such shape so that the mud splashed up by an automobile willnot bevisible when looking at the grid from above; and also'that any. mud thatis thrown up by the vehicle or which adheres to the scraper blade willnot show when looking down- .Wardly on the grid and scraper plate. Ialso shape the scraper blade so that mud adhering thereto or thrown upby the vehicle will not be noticeable when looking down on the scraper.f

'Anoth'er object of my invention is the construction of the scraperblade of such shape that it more readily cuts the dirt and mud thebladesof the grid of an improved irregular shape to better facilitatescraping the m'ud off the shoes." With these features of my invention Ialso-have developed a scraper step plate on which aside light may bemounted, the plate being also designedto have a pleasing appearance. 7

Another object of my invention is in forming the gridor'one part of thegrid with a resilient't-op, suclras rubber, this being made angular andhaving a series ofpyramidal shaped teeth. 9 v i I f In constructing thescraper step plate I utilize a frame which may be set inanopening 'inthe runningboard of an automobile, andin this frame there is agridpreferably formed ofba'rs crossing atright angles; these barspreferably have sharp edged sides and the bottom is formed by twosurfaces which meet at an edge, these surfaces being inclined downwardlyand towards each other fromthe sharp edged sides. The top surfaces ofthe 5 bars are formed with pyramidal shaped teeth and some of theseteeth are serrated and at the unctions of the inner section of the barsthere is a rounded'curve. Where I "use a resilient top for the grid, thegrid bars are made triangular in cross section with the apex sides-ofthe-frame. large open space 15 the side of the scraper blade throughi'which the mud" drops when scrapedrioili theeshoes, and acrossthis-open flangeQO to engage the upper surface of a rundown and on thisis placed theresilient mat also formed of cross bars generallytriangularin erosssection with the apex up; and if desired the resilientmat may be made in ,a series of pyramidal shaped teeth-and these havethe upperedge orridge serrated. "The scraper blade extends transverselyacross the grid, there being a larger opening on oneiside' of. thescraper blade than the ordinary openings between the bars of the grid,to allowsmud to freely drop through; butthisopening preferably has crossbars to preventachild stepping through same. The scraper blade has asomewhat concave curve on its under portion as well as a concave curveon-top, therebeing a longitudinal passage through the blade for-thewiring for-a lamp. Thelower portion of the blade ismainly hollow forvinsertion of wiring for the lamp. 1 Myinvention; isillustrated intheaccompanying drawings, in which w i from the soles of the Sl108S,21I1Cl also making Figure lis a perspective view of one form of my.scraper step plate. v Fig. 21s a partial-plan View of another form.

H Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 9 Fig.5 5- is aperspective 'detail showing two ntersectmgbarsof.the grid. r lmIn-ytheiconstruction of -my scraper; step plate 'as shown in Fig.4, Ihave. a suitable frame 1-1 which is formed circular at one end 12- Thisis providedwithfagrid 13 over thezmaj or portion of the step plateandlhas scraper blade l4 extending between the There is av relativelyspace'there are aseri'es of bars 16 to prevent a childs foot fromslipping therethrough. Some-ofthe features"employedin the constructionof Fig. 1 are-also illustrated iirthe construction of Fig-2.1 i

Inthe construction ofthese FigsQ and 3 I employ a frame 17 which has-awide-thin ning board 21. The running board has a cutout section againstwhich fits a downwardly extending flange 22. This flange merges by agradual curve 23 into the lower surface 24 of the frame and the uppersurface of the flange 20 is gradually curved upwardly, as indicated at25, and terminates in a relatively sharp edge 26 which extends aroundthe frame. The inner lower part of the frame slopes inwardly andupwardly, as indicated at 27, and joins the inner upper surface 28 at arelatively sharp edge 29 (note Fig. 3). By this construction, any dirtwhich is thrown up by the vehicle is caught on the surface 24 or 27 andis not readily visible from above when looking down on the scraperplate.

7 In the construction of Figs. 2 and 3 I utilize a scraper blade 30which extends from side to side of the frame. This blade is the same asshown in Fig. 1 having a relatively sharp scraping edge 31 at the top,with lateral shoulders 32 to scrape the mud from the edges of the soleof the shoe, the edge 31 scraping it from the bottom of the shoe. Thisblade has a concave curve 33 on the upper side and has a curve 34 on thelower side which is mainly concave. The lower edge 35 of the bladeterminates on substantially the same level as the lower surface 24 ofthe frame, and the upper part'36 of the blade merges into the edge 26 ofthe frame at the sides and into the top of the grid hereunder described.

The blade is preferably cored out as indicated at 37 for the majorportion of the width of the blade and has a tubular section 38 in whichmay be inserted a lamp 39, there being a lens 40 at the outer end of thescraper blade, this end being preferably curved inwardly as indicated at41. Electric wiring 42 for the lamp may be fitted in the cored section37.

In Figs. 2 and 3 there is a main grid-43 and a secondary grid 44. Eachof these-grids is made with cross bars, and preferabl the grid 43 ismade with a resilient mat. l b effect this construction I utilize crossbars 45 which are triangular in cross section, having a horizontalsurface 46 facing upwardly and an apex 47 extending downwardly, therebeing inclined lower sides 47 On top of this frame or grid with a flattop I place a mat, designated generally by the numeral 48, having aseries of cross bars 49 preferably formed of rubber. These have a flatbase 50 downwardly and have their apex 51 upwardly. The rubber bars arepreferably formed in a series of pyramidal structures 52, some of thepyramids having a series of serrations 53.

At the intersection of the bars there is a flat section 54, and at thejunctions of the bars I utilize a curved fillet 55. These bars join ormerge into the frame and the apex of the bars is on a level with theupper sharp edge 26 of the frame. The grid 44 is preferably made withsolid bars of substantially the same shape as shown in Fig. 5, in whichcase: the upper portion of the bars is formed with the pyramidal typestructures and some of these are provided with serrations on the apex orridge.

At the forward side of the scraper blade I provide a molding 56, leavingan open space 57, and I utilize a'few cross bars 58 extending from thescraper blade to the molding, these being a sufficient number to dividethe space 57 into small areas, so that there is no danger of a childpassing its foot or leg through the opening, or for a persons heelbecoming caught between the bars 58, the molding 56 or the scraperblade.

The manner of functioning of my scraper blade is substantially asfollows:

It will be seen that on account of the shape of the grid bars the mudthrown up by the road will be caught to a great extent on the downwardlyinclined surface 47 of such bars, and hence will not be visible from thetop of the running board; also any dirt that is thrown up adjacent theframe and caught on the lower surface 24 or the upwardly and inwardlyinclined surface 27 will not be visible. As to the scraper blade, themud scraped off thereby being on the surface 34 readilydrops off, andany mud which would be adherent or would be thrown up by the vehicle,would not be visible on looking down on the running board, unless aperson viewed this from a low angle, looking at the surface 34. As abovementioned, the edge 31 of the scraper blade may be utilized to removemud from the soles of the shoes and the shoulder 32 from the edges ofthe soles.

The grid having the cross bars with the pyramidal type upper surfacealso facilitates the removal of dirt and especially when the resilientmat of the same formation is used,

this may be utilized to scour the soles of the shoes after the majorportion of the mud is scraped off.

- It'will be manifest that scraper step plates formed in accordance withmy invent1on may be considerably changed to adapt same for differentstyles and tastes. For instance, if

only the scraper blade is wanted, the grid may be eliminated and theblade mounted in a frame having a molding. Then again, if the scraperblade is not desired, a grid may be made in accordance-with myinvention, and forms an effective and efficient shoe scraper. If thescraper plate is utilized with metal running boards, the structure ofthe plate and running board may be built together.

I prefer to form the main grid 43 ofcross bars which have continuouscrossing ridges, these ridges forming sharp edges for scraping mud offthe soles of the shoes. I prefer, however, to form the secondary grid 44with the cross bars arranged having pyramids thereon, as these pyramidsmay be utilized in scraping the dirt from around the edges of the solesof the shoes. If the main grid is formed with a resilient mat, the lowerportion of the bars are triangular in cross sec tion and the upperresilient parts are also formed triangular in cross section withcontinuous ridges.

Various changes may be made in the principles of my invention withoutdeparting from the spirit thereof, as set forth in the description,drawings and claims.

I claim:

1. A step plate having a frame with a grid formed of transverse andlongitudinal bars, a scraper blade extending transversely across theframe, the top of the blade being above the top of the grid, an arcuatemolding con nected from one side of the blade to the other, and crossbars from the molding to the scraper blade.

2. A step plate having a frame adapted to fit in an opening in a runningboard, a grid formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, a scraperblade extending from side to side of the frame, the edge of the bladebeing above the top of the grid, said blade having a concave curve fromthe scraper edge propor to the lower surface of the grid, and a moldingconnected from side to side of the scraper blade.

3. A step plate having a frame adapted to lit in an opening in a runningboard, a grid formed of crossing bars, said bars having bottom surfaceswhich extend downwardly and converge together in a reverse ridge, ascraper blade having an edge extending above the grid, there being anopening on one side of the blade and the side of the blade adjacent suchopening having a concave curve from the edge to the under side of thegrid.

f. A step plate having a frame to fit in an opening in a running board,a grid formed of crossing bars, said bars having lower surfaces whichextend downwardly and converge forming an inverted ridge, the uppersurfaces of the bars having a series of pyramidal type structures, someof said structures having a ridge, a scraper blade having an edgepositioned above the top of the grid, a molding extending from side toside of the blade, and cross bars extending from the molding to theblade.

5. In a step plate, a frame, a scraper blade mounted therein, therebeing an open space at one side of the blade, the side of the bladeadjacent the open space being cut away from the scraper edge of theblade, the cut away surface converging into. the lower surface of theblade.

6. In the art described, a running board, a scraper blade attachedthereto, said blade having a passage through one end, and an electriclamp fitted in said passage.

7. In a step plate, a frame, a blade-like structure extendingtransversely thereof and having an opening on one side adapted to GEORGEA. KEENAN.

